keduh@hogpd.UUCP (D.HUDEK) (03/27/84)
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There's one thing (at least :-) ) that bothers me in the
discussions about school prayer. Lots of people have been referring
to some law or other that is supposed to be banning school prayer.
DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT IT IS ?? (Hey, no asterisks! :-) )
I skimmed the Constitution (and may have missed it), but the only
thing I could find concerning religion is the first amendment
wherein it states : "Congress shall make no law respecting the
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof...". Is this supposed to be the bone of contention ??
Obviously, there are some real world constraints to this. For instance,
I don't think the government would really allow me to establish and
practice freely a religion that requires one to kill the third person
one meets every morning. Is it some sort of later constraint that
is supposed to be banning school prayer? Federal law, state law,... ??
I've said it before and I'll say it yet again, I do not really believe
that prayer is banned [coerced prayer recitals yes, but not individual
quiet meditation/prayer]. Equal access to school facilities (for
before- or after- school meetings [like for chess clubs, etc.] ) I do
understand is a problem and I would support equal access on a "club"
level [ chess club, spanish club, christian club, buddist club, etc. ...]
but not forced recitals. Does anyone know what law is supposed to
prevent equal access ??
p.s. I'm talking about US law here, but would be interested in
what the law is in other countries.
insert snappy graphic here {ihnp4! or pegasus!} hogpd!keduhandrew@inmet.UUCP (03/31/84)
#R:hogpd:-30600:inmet:7800074:000:676 inmet!andrew Mar 28 12:28:00 1984 No law has yet prevented access to school facilities by student religious groups; state and federal court decisions have generally (but not always) been against this. The US Supreme Court is scheduled to hear this later this year; given the 5-4 vote in favor of tax-supported religious displays at Christmas, I would not be surprised if they upheld equal access. (I see nothing wrong with this myself.) Andrew W. Rogers, Intermetrics ...harpo!inmet!andrew 733 Concord Ave. ...hplabs!sri-unix!cca!ima!inmet!andrew Cambridge, MA 02138 ...uw-beav!cornell!esquire!inmet!andrew (617) 661-1840 ...yale-comix!ima!inmet!andrew